Money doesn’t always come from the octagon. A new study from Stake reveals how top UFC fighters are turning their huge social media followings into serious cash.



But just how many of these followers are fake – and how much could these stars be making from bots?

To find out, the UFC experts at Stake analysed Instagram data from the sport’s biggest names and revealed who has the highest number of fake followers, and how much money they could be pocketing from phantom fans.

Top 10 UFC fighters raking in the most from fake followers

Rank	UFC fighter	Number of total followers on Instagram	% of fake followers	Number of fake followers	Estimated maximum earnings per sponsored post ($)	Estimated earnings per post from fake followers ($)
1	Conor McGregor	46,300,000	22.40%	10,371,200	$147,234	$32,980
2	Khabib Nurmagomedov	41,300,000	23.91%	9,874,830	$131,334	$31,402
3	Ilia Topuria	12,400,000	53.13%	6,588,120	$39,432	$20,950
4	Khamzat Chimaev	11,400,000	30.34%	3,458,760	$36,252	$10,999
5	Islam Makhachev	12,000,000	26.76%	3,211,200	$38,160	$10,212
6	Jon Jones	9,500,000	24.21%	2,299,950	$30,210	$7,314
7	Francis NGannou	7,300,000	29.11%	2,125,030	$23,214	$6,758
8	Israel Adesanya	8,300,000	21.41%	1,777,030	$26,394	$5,651
9	Alex Pereira	8,000,000	20.67%	1,653,600	$25,440	$5,258
10	Charles Oliveira	9,000,000	17.75%	1,597,500	$28,620	$5,080

For the complete data of all UFC fighters analysed, please click here.

Topping the leaderboard for cashing in the most from fake followers is Irish MMA superstar Conor McGregor. Despite not having stepped inside the cage in over four years, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion still boasts the largest Instagram following with 46.3 million fans. However, more than one in five (22.40%) are bots, amounting to a whopping 10,371,200 fake fans. McGregor could be pulling in up to $147,234 per Instagram post, with an eye-popping $32,980 coming straight from his bot army. 

To put that into perspective, the average US worker would have to clock a mind-boggling 1,046 hours of work (or around six months of full-time work) to earn what McGregor makes from just one sponsored post tied to these bots. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov ranks second with nearly a quarter (23.91%) of his 41.3 million followers flagged as fake – that’s around 9,874,830 bot accounts. The undefeated lightweight superstar could be earning $31,402 per post from bots alone, out of a total $131,334. For the average US worker, that’s roughly 996 hours – or just over five and a half months – of work to make what Khabib nets from a single sponsored Instagram post linked to his fake following.

Topuria is the king of fake followers as over HALF of his Instagram fans are bots

Coming in third is Ilia Topuria, who has the highest proportion of fake followers among all fighters analysed. Over half of his 12.4 million followers (53.13%) – around 6.59 million accounts – are fake. That’s more than double the number of fake followers of Islam Makhachev (3.21 million) in fifth place, despite their similar Instagram followings. Topuria could be raking in $20,950 per post from bots alone, out of a total estimated $39,432 per sponsored post – that’s roughly 664 hours of full-time work for the average US worker.

If Topuria posted like an influencer three times per week, he could be earning a whopping $6.15 million in a year without stepping into the octagon – with half of that ($3.27 million) coming directly from fake followers. That’s roughly on par with his UFC 317 paycheck ($3.5 million)!

Fourth on the list is Khamzat Chimaev, the unstoppable phenom known for dominating multiple weight classes. Of his 11.4 million followers, a notable 30.34% – roughly 3,458,760 – are bots inflating his numbers. Chimaev could be netting $36,252 per post, with $10,999 stemming from fake followers alone.

Rounding out the top five is the UFC’s #1 pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev. More than a quarter (26.76%) of his Instagram followers are fake. That’s around 3,211,200 fake followers, boosting his estimated earnings per post by $10,212.